ROSMAH, Najibby's 2nd WIFE leaves an indelible stain on Malaysia's political and legal systems. Anwar Ibrahim’

The huge crowds that gather for Anwar Ibrahim's ceramah speak volumes of the common people's support for the de facto opposition party leader's efforts to reform the country's institutions for the better once Pakatn Rakyat wins the next general elections.

The more the present weak government harasses their political opponents with frivolous charges, the more support the opposition parties will get from the voters. The more demonising articles are written about the opposition in the mainstream media, the more educated voters will look to the alternative media which is more believable as compared to the media controlled by the government.

BN has got its priorities wrong in fighting their political opponents. No respected government which adheres to democratic values would use all government agencies like the police, the Attorney-General's Chambers and the judiciary to do their bidding to 'kill' off their opponents who are a threat to their hegemonic rule of this country.

Our weak government cannot hide behind the 'skirts' of government agencies to harass their foes in politics. They should prove with words and deeds that they are a better government as compared to their rivals.

Our police force should be neutral and not act against opposition leaders for giving political speeches while turning a blind eye to transgressions by government leaders uncluding fiery speeches which border on racism.

The next general election will only be held three years from now but judging from the sea of people attending Anwar Ibrahim's road shows (without free dinners thrown in), one can only conclude that the people's quest for a reform of government is still strong.

Elected lawmakers should know who their employers are. It is us the humble voters who will decide comes election time who to vote for and who to kick out of Parliament and the state assemblies.

The last historical elections has shown that people have no qualms about using their vote wisely to deny BN's their two-thirds majority in Parliament as well as allowing the opposition front Pakatan Rakyat to sweep five state.

Ignore us at your own peril as the people have had enough of elected representatives who only use their high positions for personal gains.

Anwar Ibrahim sham trial has drawn the attention of foreign leaders from Australia to US. To think that US President Barack Obama has chosen to visit Indonesia in the coming days without making a state visit to our country's makes one wonder why he has snubbed Malaysia.

One would think that the US government is sending a subtle message to our leaders that they are unhappy with the democratic process in this country where human rights are not being practiced freely.

We should blame our failed politician cum ambassador to Washington, Jamaluddin Jarjis for failing to lobby hard enough for President Osama to visit Malaysia together with Indonesia at the same time.

Nobody can predict the future. Hopefully if and when a new federal government is formed after the next general elections, massive economic and democratic reforms like what had happened in Indonesia would occur here too.

Then maybe a sitting US president might make a state visit which can only enhance our nation's image among the world's leaders. Let make it happen.

Personally, I do not believe the BN-driven 'Sodomy II' court case will end up with Anwar Ibrahim behind bars, well, not at least until past 2013 or earlier should the next general election be called sooner. And if the BN then wins big, Anwar may even get an acquittal.

My assessment is not based on any perception that the BN's attitude towards Anwar Ibrahim is altruistic – au contraire, they fear and hate Anwar for his role in keeping the loose Pakatan Rakyat coalition together.

But they have realised that an incarcerated Anwar will be a martyr-ed Anwar, and a martyr-ed Anwar will be a formidable cause célèbre which can attract even more Malaysians to rally under the Pakatan banner come the next general election.

For Pakatan, an Anwar Ibrahim in jail will be a far more cohesive element and a probably winning factor. Lim Kit Siang of DAP has warned BN of this even though his motive had been more of a reverse psychological threat to keep Anwar Ibrahim out of jail.

The strategy of the anti-Anwar force is probably to drag out the court case for as long as possible so as to prolong the embarrassment and discrediting of Anwar through incremental releases of salacious tidbits for public consumption. Thus I wasn't surprised when the Federal Court postponed the trial recently.

The anti-Anwar force wasn't flinching as some asserted, nor was it giving in to international force as others had fantasised. We may expect more postponements and delays.

The longer the trial, preferably drawn out past 2013, the more dirty laundering in public on Anwar can be done. The objective is to continuously slander, smear and slur Anwar Ibrahim and bring his character into disrepute. The trial will be milked for all its worth and potential to destroy his character, credibility and even charisma.

Outside the trial the character assassination continues unabated. The recent release of a VCD has been part of that process. Whether true or otherwise, more of such information will be forthcoming.

Former but now disgruntled colleagues of Anwar have been and will be paraded out regularly to disparage Anwar with nasty and damaging gossips. He has already been demonised as a puppet of the Chinese DAP party, with the 'Chinese' emphasised by Anwar's detractors. His stand vis-à-vis the 'Allah' word controversy has seen his Muslim status attacked by the usual suspects. Expect more!

The recent defection of once-PKR members of Parliament and state assemblypersons with their inevitable complaints and criticisms of Anwar would form part of the discrediting programme.

I only have some doubts in the case of Zulkifli Noordin. He claims to be Anwar's close friend and an intimate of the family yet bizarrely, he has drawn out his course of recalcitrance and insubordination Anwar's party which could only damage and undermine Anwar's credibility as an Islamic leader and a firm and decisive Pakatan leader.

Surely Zulkifli Noordin knows this yet he had persisted on that path. Why? Now he attacks Anwar's wife ad hominen. With friends such as the 'Kulim Wonde'r, Anwar Ibrahim doesn't need any more enemies.

And at the background of all these issues and elements unfavourable to Anwar Ibrahim lurks the rabid raving and ranting of the Human Rights Party 's P Uthayakumar who seems more set on disparaging and damaging Pakatan (only in its second year of government in some states) than the Umno-BN for its 52 years of undeniable marginalisation of the Indian community.

It may not be the '50 dalil' but more likely is the political assassination of Anwar Ibrahim by a thousand cuts.

by Terence Netto

The more the powers-that-be appear to harass him, the bigger the crowds that come to hear his version of political reality.

Clearly, pressure on their man whets his supporters’ appetite for what may well be dubbed the ‘Anwar Ibrahim 360′ show: the PKR supremo’s overall take, delivered in windmill fashion, on what is happening to the politics, economy, religion, and people of Malaysia.

On Tuesday night, a crowd of about 10,000 had braved pouring rain in Rasah, Negri Sembilan, to hear Anwar and DAP’s Lim Kit Siang lambast the UMNO-led BN for its high-intensity campaign to induce defections from Pakatan Rakyat’s ranks and for alleged unleashing the police force and the anti-corruption body, MACC, against the opposition’s elected representatives.

Earlier in the week, police had dispersed a crowd at the Sultan Sulaiman Club in Kampong Baru, Kuala Lumpur. The crowd gathered to celebrate the second anniversary of the political tsunami that had gained for the opposition control of four states and enhanced standing in one.

There followed a gathering at an indoor stadium in Shah Alam which also drew sizeable support but the exhibition of popular sentiment at Rasah, in inclement conditions, was the surest indicator that Pakatan’s taking public their case against undue BN harassment was catching on compellingly.

The 20,000 crowd that turned up at the Tapak Expo in Seberang Jaya last night waited patiently until 11pm for Anwar to appear.

Earlier it had listened with applause, polite and intermittent, to supporting speakers, which included PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, Penang deputy chief ministers P Ramasamy and Mansor Othman, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and Karpal Singh.

Abdul Hadi’s disclosure that a motor accident causing the deaths of some ardent supporters back home in Marang, Terengganu, explained his hastened turn at the lectern which he used to moving effect by saying that Anwar’s caliber and present privations made it imperative that Pakatan continue to support him for the role of parliamentary opposition leader.

Justification for that position is tenuous now that defections have dropped Anwar’s party, PKR, to second place in the tally of opposition MPs. The post normally goes to the leader of the party with the highest number of seats.

Guan Eng warms up crowd

At last night’s gathering, the fact that a shower had cooled the heat of the earlier part of the evening helped reduce the people’s discomfort at standing for long among concretions of parked cars, motorcycles and human beings.

There was relief when the main attraction appeared about 15 minutes later than he usually does – 10.45pm is Anwar’s usual turn at the lectern. He had rushed to the place after addressing a gathering at Sungai Chenaam in Nibong Tebal. The crowd at this Malay hamlet, composed mainly of fishermen and farmers, was about 5,000.

Lim Guan Eng, who had preceded him at Sungai Chenaam and exited earlier to warm-up the crowd at Seberang Jaya, was speaking when Anwar arrived, pausing to allow the emcee to hail the PKR leader as ‘wira negara’ (nation’s hero).

Anwar spoke after DAP’s wheelchair-bound chairman Karpal had done his rousing little bit to assure the people that his lack of locomotion was no impediment to his fervour in legal espousal of Anwar and determination to see Pakatan emplaced in Putrajaya.

Anwar’s now much-delayed turn at the podium meant he had to race through his speech, but not at the expense of his singular ability at mixing high flown speculation with street vernacular.

This saw him quote the Malay thinker Za’aba, fetching a counsel of this reformist intellectual uttered in 1920 no less, and dovetailing it with the necessity for imperative reform to Malaysia’s political culture.

Anwar’s ability to mix high and low on issues to do with religion and secular concerns, culture and politics, and also of his interactions with foreign and domestic leaders, was all on evidence in a fast-paced speech of about 45 minutes’ duration.

He made it all sound he had a good grasp of the whole diorama of Malaysian history and that his lyrical grace under repressive pressure – he said the cops were waiting to question him on the morrow – was a thing the people could always count on.

That appeared to be what the crowd wanted to see from him, for many did not wait until the end to depart.

Having cooled their heels until his late arrival and been sufficiently gratified, they, near to midnight, began to straggle out of the sprawling grounds only to find people leaning on the guard rails in the distant periphery, still intent on the speaker’s content, audible through strategically dispersed speakers.

The lure of Anwar’s rhetorical magic is a thing of surprise, even to frequent listeners.